The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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Client: Meta
Date: May 2021
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Facebook continues to craft compelling stories around moments and occasions in India – the one that it did last year around Diwali time was a 7-minute-long film that had been widely shared and liked.

The latest one is a 6-minute-long film, launched to time around the last day of the Ramadan festival but has a universal and timeless message of selflessness and goodness, even while keeping the ‘social network’ brand gently but surely in the backdrop. It is one more story of everyday heroes coming together in these difficult times, to help friends, neighbours and strangers alike. The film has been created by Facebook’s creative agency Taproot Dentsu and directed by acclaimed director Shimit Amin of Ransom Films.

The short film is a well-crafted message of hope and reinforces the belief that people are indeed each other’s best resources. The story showcases how people can help each other by coming together while using Facebook as a platform. Privacy and other debates notwithstanding around Facebook, in the current pandemic ravaged times, a film like this with its positive and action-laden messaging is a welcome change.

Elaborating on the film and the premise, Ayesha Ghosh, chief exec of Taproot Dentsu says, “Even before the pandemic struck, we had started putting out stories based on this belief. Stories of people coming together to make wonderful things happen, whether in good times or bad.” This particular film is inspired by the reality we are seeing around us; the irrepressible human spirit that shines through in the darkest hour, she adds.

The film has an interesting premise of a young and helpful Muslim boy living in a small Indian town. He is always eager to help people – and is busy convincing them to take the vaccine to battle the Covid-19 virus, clearing their doubts and even helping them by taking them to the far away vaccination centre. Till he finds a not so easy to convince lady who refuses to be taken in by his persuasive charm. The rest of the film is about his persistence, how he finally manages to convince her and takes her for the vaccination. She in return realises how he is missing his family and becomes one of his and helps him celebrate the festival.

The film does an interesting play on the Covid-world with the masks and the vaccine playing their roles prominently in the film, which also makes it a relevant film as vaccination has emerged as the single most way to battle the ongoing Covid impact. India is currently in the midst of a brutal second wave, that has left it severely battered, even as vaccination has gotten underway in the populous nation.

The good thing about the film is that it acknowledges the zeitgeist while leaving people with a message of hope.